Escalon is a city in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 7,472 at the 2020 census, up from 7,132 at the 2010 census and 5,963 at the 2000 census. Escalon is a Spanish word meaning "stepping stones." Founder John Wheeler Jones is said to have come upon the name in a book in the Stockton Free Library and liked it so much that he gave it to the town.